Yo-Yo Ma, Herb Alpert, and More Join the San Francisco Symphony in June
Elim Chan, Tianyi Lu, and María Dueñas will take the Davies Symphony Hall stage in the upcoming season
The San Francisco Symphony's June programming lineup features four Orchestral Series programs led by guest conductors Elim Chan, Stéphane Denève, James Gaffigan, and Tianyi Lu; and a special program with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Gaffigan.
The month also includes a performance by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, a Shenson Spotlight Series recital with violinist Njioma Grevious and pianist Andrew Goodridge, free chamber music concerts at the SF Public Library, and a chamber music concert at Davies Symphony Hall.
Orchestral Series
June 5–6: Elim Chan Conducts La Mer
Elim Chan, former principal conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and recently appointed Artistic Partner of the Vienna Symphony, joins the San Francisco Symphony June 5-6 for a program of works deeply inspired by literature, love, and nature. The program includes Felix Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, inspired by Shakespeare's play and written by the composer at the age of 17. Mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke joins Chan and the Orchestra for Hector Berlioz's Les Nuits d'été, a setting of six poems by Berlioz's friend and neighbor Théophile Gautier. Chan then leads the Orchestra in the orchestral version of Richard Wagner's Prelude and Liebestod from the opera Tristan und Isolde, followed by Claude Debussy's La Mer, an impressionistic depiction of the ocean.
June 12–14: Scheherazade
Tianyi Lu, former conductor-in-residence of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, makes her Orchestral Series debut conducting the first SF Symphony performances of Iranian-Canadian composer Iman Habibi's Zhiân, which received its world premiere in 2023. The title of the piece translates to “life” in Kurdish and “indignant” or “formidable” in Persian. Habibi writes, “In the months I spent writing this piece, I was surrounded by images and videos of Iranian protesters inside and outside of Iran... This piece is my humble attempt to stand in solidarity with them, and I dedicate it to the brave people of Iran, in the hope of better days ahead.” María Dueñas performs Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Violin Concerto, which marked the composer's return to the concert hall following a successful career scoring Hollywood films. The program closes with Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, a marvel of orchestral color, narrative ingenuity, and melodic invention.
June 18 & 20–21: Gaffigan Conducts Beethoven 9
James Gaffigan, general music director of Komische Oper Berlin and Music Director Designate of the Houston Grand Opera, leads the Orchestra in Ludwig van Beethoven's monumental Symphony No. 9. The Ninth Symphony is not only Beethoven's final complete symphony but also one of his most well-known works. Soprano Jessica Faselt and bass Peixin Chen (in their Orchestral Series debuts), mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor, tenor Thomas Cooley, and the SF Symphony Chorus join Gaffigan and the Orchestra for the final movement “Ode to Joy,” the melody of which has become a popular humanist anthem. The San Francisco Symphony is dedicating these performances to Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was featured in the first subscription concerts that MTT conducted in his first season as Music Director in 1995.
June 25–27: Denève Conducts Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony
Stéphane Denève, music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and artistic director of the New World Symphony, conducts the first SF Symphony performances of Guillaume Connesson's 2012 work Flammenschrift. The composer says, “I wanted to compose a work with a fierceness that would draw a psychological portrait of Beethoven and, more generally, pay homage to the music of Germany.” Olivier Latry makes his Orchestral Series debut performing Francis Poulenc's Organ Concerto, inspired by the intricate organ fantasies of Dieterich Buxtehude, Johann Sebastian Bach, and other Baroque composers. Latry and the Orchestra also perform Camille Saint-Saëns's transformative Symphony No. 3, Organ, which has been a hit with audiences since 1886, when the composer led the Royal Philharmonic Society in its world premiere.
Special Event
June 1: Yo-Yo Ma with the San Francisco Symphony
Yo-Yo Ma joins the SF Symphony and guest conductor James Gaffigan to perform Edward Elgar's impassioned Cello Concerto, written when the composer was contemplating the destruction of World War I. Ma last performed with the Orchestra at the Opening Night Gala led by Michael Tilson Thomas in 2017. The June 1 program also features Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's final symphony, the majestic Symphony No. 41, Jupiter, known for the richly multilayered structure of its final movement.
June 16: Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights
Grammy Award-winning musician Herb Alpert and his brand-new Tijuana Brass perform songs from Alpert's iconic album Whipped Cream & Other Delights in celebration of the album's 60th anniversary, as well as other hits like “The Lonely Bull,” “Spanish Flea,” “Taste of Honey,” “Mexican Shuffle,” and “Tijuana Taxi." The concert also features hundreds of classic photos, videos, art, and various memorabilia from Herb's music career displayed on screen during the performance. The San Francisco Symphony does not appear in this performance.
Shenson Spotlight Series
June 3: Njioma Grevious
Violinist Njioma Grevious, joined by pianist Andrew Goodridge, performs a Shenson Spotlight Series recital including music from Johann Sebastian Bach's Violin Sonata No. 2 in A minor, Electra Perivolaris's Within the drifting contours of the land…, Johannes Brahms's Scherzo in C minor from F-A-E Sonata, Olivier Messiaen's Theme and Variations, Clarence Cameron White's Levee Dance, and Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major. The Shenson Spotlight Series, now in its fifth season, features ascendant artists in their Davies Symphony Hall debuts. A graduate of the Juilliard School in 2021, Grevious is a winner of the 2024 Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Robert F. Smith First Prize and the Audience Choice awards in the Senior Division of the Sphinx Competition, and the grand prizes of the Concert Artists Guild (CAG) and the Young Classical Artist Trust (YCAT) Competition. Goodridge has performed with many leading artists, including James Buswell, Roman Totenberg, and members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Boston Symphony Orchestra, and is on the faculty at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School.
Chamber Music Concerts
June 13, 20, & 24: Free Concerts at San Francisco Public Libraries
The San Francisco Symphony's free Community Chamber Concert series features small ensembles from the Symphony performing at community spaces across San Francisco. These concerts are an opportunity for audiences to get to know SF Symphony musicians and see them perform in an intimate setting.
On June 13 at 4:00pm at the San Francisco Public Library's Chinatown Branch, violinist Kingston Ho and violist Katarzyna Bryla (Joanne E. Harrington & Lorry I. Lokey Second Century Chair) perform a Community Chamber Concert and engage in a Q&A with the audience.
On June 20 at 2:00pm at the San Francisco Public Library's North Beach Branch, first violin Yvette Kraft (Isaac Stern Chair) and cellist Davis You (Lyman & Carol Casey Second Century Chair) perform a Community Chamber Concert and engage in a Q&A with the audience.
On June 24 at 5:30pm at the San Francisco Public Library's Sunset Branch, Assistant Principal Violin Jessie Fellows (Audrey Avis Aasen-Hull Chair) and Assistant Principal Viola Katie Kadarauch perform a Community Chamber Concert and engage in a Q&A with the audience.
All Community Chamber Concerts are free and open to the public.
June 28: Chamber Music at Davies Symphony Hall
In the final chamber music concert of the 2025–26 season, San Francisco Symphony musicians perform Gareth Farr's Taheke, SF Symphony first violin Sarn Oliver's CAT (Contemporary Artful Tonalities) String Quartet, Joan Tower's Petroushskates, and Gabriel Fauré's Piano Trio in D minor.
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